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12th out of 139 books
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Wolfsbane and Mistletoe (Sookie Stackhouse #8.1)
by
Charlaine Harris ,
Toni L.P. Kelner , Kat Richardson (Goodreads Author) , Alan Gordon , Carrie Vaughn (Goodreads Author) , Patricia Briggs , Dana Stabenow (Goodreads Author) , Nancy Pickard
,
more...
The editors of "Many Bloody Returns" deliver the perfect howl-iday gift, with new tales from Patricia Briggs, Carrie Vaughn, and many more.
"New York Times" bestselling authors Charlaine Harris, Patricia Briggs, Keri Arthur, and Carrie Vaughn?along with eleven other masters of the genre?offer all-new stories on werewolves and the holidays, a fresh vari...more
"New York Times" bestselling authors Charlaine Harris, Patricia Briggs, Keri Arthur, and Carrie Vaughn?along with eleven other masters of the genre?offer all-new stories on werewolves and the holidays, a fresh vari...more
Hardcover, 340 pages
Published
October 7th 2008
by Ace Books
(first published September 17th 2008)
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Lady Danielle "The Book Huntress"
rated it
Recommends it for:
urban fantasy and werewolf short story lovers
This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it,
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"Wolfsbane and Mistletoe" is an anthology containing werewolf stories by 15 different authors including Keri Arthur, Patricia Briggs, Karen Chance, Simon R Green, Charlaine Harris, and Carrie Vaughn, among others. There's something for everyone here as the stories range from humorous to scary, a little spicy to plain vanilla. Each story is fairly short which makes the book easy to put down and pick back up without 'losing' anything. And finally, each story also centers around the ho...more
Mai
rated it
Shelves:
anthology,
shapeshifters,
2010,
crime,
fantasy,
fey,
paranormal,
redemption,
romantic-subplot,
fantasy-urban,
vampires,
humor
Generally, the best stories in here are the ones not set in any of the worlds of the author's books and the werewolf and Christmas themes are closely tied together.
Gift Wrap by Charlaine Harris 3/5
A story about Sookie from Harris's Southern Vampires series. Sookie finds herself alone on Christmas Eve. Or so she thinks. Features the strangest Christmas gift a relative can give.
The Haire of the Beast by Donna Andrews 3/5
A college T.A.'s brother wants her to ma...more
Gift Wrap by Charlaine Harris 3/5
A story about Sookie from Harris's Southern Vampires series. Sookie finds herself alone on Christmas Eve. Or so she thinks. Features the strangest Christmas gift a relative can give.
The Haire of the Beast by Donna Andrews 3/5
A college T.A.'s brother wants her to ma...more
I read only a select few of the stories in this anthology... not trying out any new authors, only authors I currently read. :)
1. Gift Wrap by Charlaine Harris. 3 Stars. Not sure how I feel about this one... It didn't really paint Sookie or Niall in the best light. If I wasn't already a follower of the Sookie Stackhouse series, I wouldn't pick it up after reading this short story.
2. The Werewolf Before Christmas by Kat Richardson. 3 Stars. This one made me laugh out loud s...more
1. Gift Wrap by Charlaine Harris. 3 Stars. Not sure how I feel about this one... It didn't really paint Sookie or Niall in the best light. If I wasn't already a follower of the Sookie Stackhouse series, I wouldn't pick it up after reading this short story.
2. The Werewolf Before Christmas by Kat Richardson. 3 Stars. This one made me laugh out loud s...more
Most of the stories were just meh - although I really enjoyed the story by Patricia Briggs. Short stories are still just difficult for me. I find it too hard to get into the story after having just been dropped into the middle of a new world where I don't know the players or the rules to the game.
Rowena
added it
It doesn't seem fair to rate the entire anthology, when I've only read one story. However, I would like to share my review of JA Konrath's "S.A."
Some of us push the envelope... JA Konrath's S.A. begins with a most unhappy --but healthy-- gentleman crossing a snowy parking lot, carrying a semi-see-through, blue plastic box containing a large stool sample. In fact, it's not a sample. It's the whole enchilada.
He's taking this vigorous specimen to his doctor because the...more
Some of us push the envelope... JA Konrath's S.A. begins with a most unhappy --but healthy-- gentleman crossing a snowy parking lot, carrying a semi-see-through, blue plastic box containing a large stool sample. In fact, it's not a sample. It's the whole enchilada.
He's taking this vigorous specimen to his doctor because the...more
Shannon (Savhage Temptrest)
marked it as to-read
"Gift Wrap" by Charlaine Harris starts with a depressed and lonely Sookie all alone on Christmas Eve, and quickly turns to her discovering an injured Werewolf in her woods. Of course, there is more to this Were than meets the eye. I liked this story; it was nice and humble, and Niall made an appearance as well. One note: I would love to have a great-grandfather, or any family member for that matter, give me a Christmas "gift" like Sookie got. Lucky Girl!
"...more
"...more
SPOILER ALERT!!!!
The main story I wanted to read in this book was Gift Wrapped by Charlaine Harris. Know right off the bat, I adore Sookie Stackhouse, so I am difficult to disappoint in this regard. But this story was very short and rather hollow. It lacked the punch of the short story in Bite. And Sookie always rises above feeling sorry for herself, so that was a bummer. I'm glad Quinn got a mention. She just doesn't use her brain to figure out something more is amiss than wh...more
The main story I wanted to read in this book was Gift Wrapped by Charlaine Harris. Know right off the bat, I adore Sookie Stackhouse, so I am difficult to disappoint in this regard. But this story was very short and rather hollow. It lacked the punch of the short story in Bite. And Sookie always rises above feeling sorry for herself, so that was a bummer. I'm glad Quinn got a mention. She just doesn't use her brain to figure out something more is amiss than wh...more
I just read the Sookie story in this installment and I have to say that I absolutely hated it. As a huge fan of the Sookie series, I thought I would get a treat in between installments, but this is one I wish I had never read.
Sookie's a pretty "nice" girl for the most part and that's one of the things that I enjoy about her most. The present that she received from her grandfather was absolutely ridiculous and seemed to cheapen Sookie's character for me. I am going to pre...more
Sookie's a pretty "nice" girl for the most part and that's one of the things that I enjoy about her most. The present that she received from her grandfather was absolutely ridiculous and seemed to cheapen Sookie's character for me. I am going to pre...more
“Wolfsbane and Mistletoe,” is a holiday feast of 15 short stories filled with werewolves, shapeshifters, vampires and oodles of romance! I’d like to give you mini-reviews for all 15, but that could take all day and I have some after-Christmas shopping to do! Here’s a taste of three of my favorites.
For the funny bone
“S.A.” by JA Konrath
When Robert Westin Smith attends his first Shapeshifters Anonymous meeting, he discovers Santa has a dark side – close ties with Sa...more
For the funny bone
“S.A.” by JA Konrath
When Robert Westin Smith attends his first Shapeshifters Anonymous meeting, he discovers Santa has a dark side – close ties with Sa...more
Review Courtesy of AllThingsUrbanFantasy.blogspot.com
Review: "Gift Wrap" by Charlaine Harris occurs chronically after From Dead To Worse (book 8) in the Sookie Stackhouse Series and you might want to save this story for later if you plan on reading the Sookie series and aren’t caught up as there are a number of spoilers (but of course my reviews are always spoiler free). Sookie is an odd character. I remember wondering if she was mentally challenged when I started the first S...more
Review: "Gift Wrap" by Charlaine Harris occurs chronically after From Dead To Worse (book 8) in the Sookie Stackhouse Series and you might want to save this story for later if you plan on reading the Sookie series and aren’t caught up as there are a number of spoilers (but of course my reviews are always spoiler free). Sookie is an odd character. I remember wondering if she was mentally challenged when I started the first S...more
Although I'm not a huge fan of werewolves, or of short stories--especially about Christmas, I wanted to read this book because I like Charlaine Harris and Donna Andrews. It surprised me just how much sheer variety the various submissions included on this theme.
Wolfsbane and Mistletoe is a collection of short storys based on werewolves and Christmas.
POSSIBLE SPOILERS!!
Gift Wrap by Charlaine Harris, pages 1-18
gift wrap is a Sookie Stackhouse short story, its about sookie being lonely on Christmas and finding a injured werewolf.
the story was a bit weird at the end, i was a bit creeped out by her grandfathers "gift". lol
The Haire of the Beast by Donna Andrews, pages 19-26
the haire of the beast is...more
POSSIBLE SPOILERS!!
Gift Wrap by Charlaine Harris, pages 1-18
gift wrap is a Sookie Stackhouse short story, its about sookie being lonely on Christmas and finding a injured werewolf.
the story was a bit weird at the end, i was a bit creeped out by her grandfathers "gift". lol
The Haire of the Beast by Donna Andrews, pages 19-26
the haire of the beast is...more
It's about time someone did an urban fantasy Christmas anthology and this crew did it right. We've got fifteen stories ranging from tense to side splitting funny that are primarily about werewolves at Christmas.
What I love about this fifteen-story anthology is that it's a mix of my old favorite authors: Charlaine Harris, Patricia Briggs, Kat Richardson, Carrie Vaughn with an addition of some folks new to me.
My favorites:
"Keeping Watch Over His Flock"...more
What I love about this fifteen-story anthology is that it's a mix of my old favorite authors: Charlaine Harris, Patricia Briggs, Kat Richardson, Carrie Vaughn with an addition of some folks new to me.
My favorites:
"Keeping Watch Over His Flock"...more
The list of authors read like a 'who's who' of the current Urban Fantasy scene, which is part of why I picked it up - because it contains stories from several of my favorite authors. I was pleased to find a decent variety of stories considering the theme was sort of limiting.
I'm not a fan of the Sookie books, I haven't even read them, so Gift Wrap was hard for me to get into. I ended up eyerolling at several parts, and the end makes a certain character come off as really creepy inst...more
I'm not a fan of the Sookie books, I haven't even read them, so Gift Wrap was hard for me to get into. I ended up eyerolling at several parts, and the end makes a certain character come off as really creepy inst...more
I'm not usually a fan of these short story compilations but quite liked the idea of a werewolf themed festive read. Wolfsbane and Mistletoe contains 15 stories by fantasy authors that you may or may not know. The Werewolf Before Christmas by Kat Richardson was probably the best festive story, where a werewolf finds out that he's eaten Rudolph. Also good reads are the ones with alternate Santa myths however many of the stories just happened to be set around the holidays and could be read any time...more
feel that i must point this out - this book is -only- Wolfsbane and Mistletoe. is 405 pages in length and does not contain Many Bloody Returns or Deaths Excellent Vacations as advertised everywhere. (the book is sitting in front of me, i have checked the ISBN everywhere and the information here is what every retailer has up as well....but its wrong!
that said, im 3 stories in and loving it. werewolves and christmas = giddy me :)
that said, im 3 stories in and loving it. werewolves and christmas = giddy me :)
Kelly
marked it as dnf
This one didn't grab me much. The Harris story is not up to her usual standard. It seems really out-of-character for Sookie at first, but it's kind of cute, so I was willing to go with it. Then there's a plot twist at the end that somewhat fixes the characterization issue--at the cost of ruining everything else about the story. It had been heartwarming; it becomes kind of cold and creepy.
I really liked Simon R. Green's "Lucy, at Christmastime." It's short, sad, and chilling...more
I really liked Simon R. Green's "Lucy, at Christmastime." It's short, sad, and chilling...more
The reason I like anthologies is because you not only get a variety of story ideas in one book, you also get a taste of the quality of writing from authors that you haven't gotten a chance to read before. In this particular volume, which is another venture to mix the supernatural with holidays (the previous being vampires and birthdays), combines werewolves and Christmas. The best being, as I suspected, Charlaine Harris' contribution. I had been curious about the works of Carrie Vaughn, Patri...more
WOLFSBANE AND MISTLETOE - 2.23 STARS
"Gift Wrap" by Charlaine Harris - 2 stars
I've decided the Sookie Stackhouse series is not for me anymore. And that it's extremely creepy that her great-grandfather set up some Christmas nookie for Sookie.
"The Haire of the Beast" by Donna Andrews - 3 stars
Odd but funny at times.
"Lucy, at Christmastime" by Simon R. Green - 1 star
Depressing.
"...more
"Gift Wrap" by Charlaine Harris - 2 stars
I've decided the Sookie Stackhouse series is not for me anymore. And that it's extremely creepy that her great-grandfather set up some Christmas nookie for Sookie.
"The Haire of the Beast" by Donna Andrews - 3 stars
Odd but funny at times.
"Lucy, at Christmastime" by Simon R. Green - 1 star
Depressing.
"...more
I have to admit, I didn't actually read all the short stories in this compilation. I picked and chose based on authors that I knew/liked, so my review will be based on what I read only.
Normally I am a big fan of Charlaine Harris, but the short on Sookie (Gift Wrap) felt a little awkward/weird. Carrie Vaughn's Il Est Ne was wonderful and I got to see Kitty again (geez, when will the next Kitty Norville instalment be out?! Can't wait!!!). Keri Arthur's Christmas Past actually was pre...more
Normally I am a big fan of Charlaine Harris, but the short on Sookie (Gift Wrap) felt a little awkward/weird. Carrie Vaughn's Il Est Ne was wonderful and I got to see Kitty again (geez, when will the next Kitty Norville instalment be out?! Can't wait!!!). Keri Arthur's Christmas Past actually was pre...more
Okay, okay, what was I doing reading a book of short stories that link Christmas and werewolves? But ask yourself, don't the holidays bring out the beast in all of us? Here's the story. I've been intrigued with all of the vampire and werewolf books that are being published and when I saw this book of short stories in the library, I thought why not. I'll tell you why not. It turns out that I have zero, yes zero, interest in reading about werewolves and vampires (and apparently they can exist...more
Since this was an anthology, I'll give a few words about each story.
"Gift Wrap" by Charlaine Harris - The Sookie Stackhouse novels are not a series I've followed. I live in south Louisiana, third generation. Born in a tiny town in the north of the state, I've spent most of my life in Baton Rouge. The inaccuracies kinda' annoy me. That aside, though, good story. Nice twist. I may start reading the stories.
"The Haire of the Beast" by Donna Andrews - Cute...more
"Gift Wrap" by Charlaine Harris - The Sookie Stackhouse novels are not a series I've followed. I live in south Louisiana, third generation. Born in a tiny town in the north of the state, I've spent most of my life in Baton Rouge. The inaccuracies kinda' annoy me. That aside, though, good story. Nice twist. I may start reading the stories.
"The Haire of the Beast" by Donna Andrews - Cute...more
Well, there it is again. This is why I try and stay away from anthologies, and if I do pick them up, I skim through them to read the ones that relate to the series I'm interested in. So this is what I thought.
Gift Wrap by Charlaine Harris - 3.5 Stars
Set in the Sookie Stackhouse world. I actually enjoyed it, even though for some reason I remember having read this story already but can't remember where, when or how.
The Haire of the Beast by Donna Andrews - 2 Stars
I...more
Gift Wrap by Charlaine Harris - 3.5 Stars
Set in the Sookie Stackhouse world. I actually enjoyed it, even though for some reason I remember having read this story already but can't remember where, when or how.
The Haire of the Beast by Donna Andrews - 2 Stars
I...more
When my brother returned from living in Japan, he shared with us all these exotic stories. One was that Christmas in Japan is viewed as a romantic couple's holiday, that is celebrated by eating take-out friend chicken from KFC and a special strawberry cake that is bought in bakeries and never made at home. Apparently, many of the writers have the Japanese version of Christmas. The stories in the collection fell into two categories: romance and comedy. While they sometimes overlapped, it was ...more
Giftwrap
Sookie finds a wounded shifter in the forest, it's Christmas and she is all alone and takes him home.
This one had a little heat in it, a tiny bit. But it was a good and surprising story.
The Haire of the Beast by Donna Andrews
This was a short one (but then they all are short) and I liked what the heroine did...and I am not telling you ;)
Lucy, at Christmastime by Simon R. Green
Not much happened in this one except for a surprise that was ...more
Sookie finds a wounded shifter in the forest, it's Christmas and she is all alone and takes him home.
This one had a little heat in it, a tiny bit. But it was a good and surprising story.
The Haire of the Beast by Donna Andrews
This was a short one (but then they all are short) and I liked what the heroine did...and I am not telling you ;)
Lucy, at Christmastime by Simon R. Green
Not much happened in this one except for a surprise that was ...more
I really enjoyed this seasonal anthology. I read it primarily because Patricia Briggs had a story in it from the same world as her Mercy Thompson series. However, in addition to simply enjoying some of the touching, disturbing, and slightly wacky stories, I found a few other authors to read in the future. The good: "The Star of David" by Patricia Briggs, "The Night Things Changed" by Dana Cameron, and "Keeping Watch Over His Flock" by Toni L. P. Kelner. The bad:...more
Schnaucl
rated it
This was an okay anthology. None of the stories really stood out and some of the story elements became really repetitive. Many of the stories revolved around a supernatural Santa or a Santa who hunts down supernatural things. I was surprised this was put together by the same people who did Many Bloody Returns because I thought that anthology was far superior and even though it also had stories based upon two prompts (vampires & birthdays) I didn't find it at all repetitive.
Gener...more
Gener...more
Editors Charlaine Harries and Toni L.P. Kelner invited a bunch of their friends and other favorite authors to write new short stories with two criteria: they had to involve werewolves and Christmas. The result is a collection of diverse, hilarious, violent, sexy, and moving stories, most of which exhibit several of those qualities at once. What would happen if a werewolf ate Rudolph? Or if Santa were actually an ancient werewolf-hunting fiend with an army of minions? And what *is* the reason beh...more
Many short story compilations out there are not anything to rave about, but I really liked this one. It had 14 werewolf stories that took place on or near Christmas Eve. The only author I'd read before was Charlaine Harris, and now I'm wanting to go look for books by the other authors--all of them. Each story had it's own style and a somewhat different take on werewolves. One of the stories was kind of predictable, but the others had me wondering what was going to happen. Writing a good sho...more
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Charlaine Harris has been a published novelist for over twenty-five years. A native of the Mississippi Delta, she grew up in the middle of a cotton field. Now she lives in southern Arkansas with her husband, her three children, three dogs, and a duck. The duck stays outside.
Though her early output consisted largely of ghost stories, by the time she hit college (Rhodes, in Memphis) Char...more
More about Charlaine Harris...
Though her early output consisted largely of ghost stories, by the time she hit college (Rhodes, in Memphis) Char...more
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“Twas the night before Christmas—well, the late afternoon, in fact, but who could tell at the North Pole in the middle of winter—and Matthias the werewolf was knee-deep in reindeer guts. Really, it was the deer’s own fault for having that glowing red nose that had made it ever so easy to pick him out in the gloom. There it had been, like a neon sign saying FAST FOOD and Matt being like Yellow Dog Dingo—always hungry—had taken the opportunity for a quick snack.”
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“She was wearing her T-shirt with the bull’s-eye printed over her heart, the one that says, GO AHEAD AND TRY IT, BUFFY.”
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